I’m nearing the end of my third (and last) pregnancy. I’m sure there will be a mourning period when the realization hits that I won’t have another baby after this. However, right now in my third trimester of my third pregnancy, I’m tired and uncomfortable and ready for this baby to get out! I am so excited to meet #3, but every pregnancy milestone I hit brings me to silently celebrate the fact that I’ll never have to do this again.
Before I became pregnant with this child, I wasn’t sure how I would feel about being finished with having kids. However, my husband and I had already discussed (and agreed) that the third would be the last. The biggest reason for reaching this decision is our age. My husband just turned 40 a few weeks ago and I’ll turn 35 a few weeks after this kid makes his grand entrance. Even though I agreed to this, I wasn’t sure how I would really feel about that when it came down to it. But over the course of this pregnancy, there have been signs that this is it for me. The further into my pregnancy I get, the more obvious (and funny) the signs are.
I realize that everyone has a different experience with pregnancy and different reasons for wanting or not wanting more kids. But, in case you need some help determining if you’re done having kids, I present you with some of the signs. These are from myself as well as some of the other contributors.
- If your kids refer to the new baby as their next victim…you might be done having kids
- If your doctor suggests a C-Section and your first thought is, “Sweet, I can get my tubes tied now!”…you might be done having kids
- If the thought of adding another kid to the family makes you break out into a sweat and go into hiding…you might be done having kids
- If your daughter pretends to change her baby doll’s diaper and it looks like she’s showing off her mad Kung Fu skills…you might be done having kids
- If your OBGYN has ever said your uterus has become lazy since having your first…you might be done having kids
- If you keep trying to convince your husband to get a vasectomy and you sold all the baby furniture…you might be done having kids
- If you find out that thanks to your age (over 35) your next one would be medically considered a “geriatric pregnancy”…you might be done having kids
- If you break out into a hot sweat if you’re “late”…you might be done having kids
- If the thought of being home on maternity leave with all the kids makes you secretly wish for a shorter leave…you might be done having kids
- If during your last pregnancy you wondered if you were actually pregnant or just going through early menopause…you might be done having kids.
- If you have calculated that at your kids graduations you’ll be the same age as other kids grandparents…you might be done having kids.
Are you finished having kids? What were some of the obvious or not so obvious signs?
